From the Shadows
by cowgirlangel95
Summary: Season 4: Orion's laptop containing the Intersect for Chuck seemed to appear just when it was needed, timed too well for it to be a coincidence. Was there a reason for that? Was there someone watching over Chuck from the shadows? My take on how the laptop appeared at the right moment.


_**A/N: It feels like forever since I've posted a Chuck fanfic on here! Gotta love college, huh? It's definitely kept me from writing more in each of my fandoms. Anyway, I hope you like the latest idea that has drifted through my mind. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck**_

Stephen J Bartowski was sitting in the darkened room of his 'new' safe house. It wasn't exactly new, for it was a small, ratty shed in the thickest part of the forest, but he had moved their almost a year ago. He had to stay there for his family's safety. Even though he knew Chuck and his team had helped to defeat the Ring, now one of his oldest foes was out after his son: Alexi Volkoff. He took the liberty of hacking into Castle's computer system to get all the information that he needed on Volkoff and Chuck's team from the most recent months. And what he saw, he didn't like.

Volkoff was in LA. And Chuck no longer had the Intersect.

Stephen uttered a silent curse as he stood up from his desk. Even though he didn't want Chuck to get wrapped up in the spy world, he couldn't deny that his son was good at it, especially with the Intersect to help him. But now? Chuck was most likely helpless.

He looked up at one of his computers and took one off of the shelf. Sure, he could upload another Intersect program to the computer for him, but what about the memory problems? He wanted to be able to fix it before he 'died', but obviously that didn't happen. The Governor helped, but it would be nice to have the Intersect without any add ons. _Ellie could probably take care of that no problem… but how to get it to them?_

He looked down at his watch. By now, the people that he had given his old Mustang to probably had sold it back to Ellie by now. If he still had the car, he could have placed it in the car and sent them both on their way.

Orion placed the computer on his desk. If Chuck needed this, he was going to have to risk going out into the world again, even if it was only for a brief time.

Stephen sat down and began to upload the information that Ellie would need to fix the Intersect's processing problems: Chuck's brain scans from the CIA database and general information on the Intersect, along with a security question he knew only Ellie would know. _Hopefully she still remembers the answer,_ he thought. _It's been quite a while since she's done that. _Then, he installed a program to transfer Ellie's discoveries to the data architecture of the Intersect, installed his original Intersect files and similar data architecture to the original 2.0, and then Chuck's security question.

After a few hours, everything was uploaded to the computer. He reached to shut the laptop's screen, but suddenly paused. Another idea ran through his mind.

Stephen went over to his main computer and brought up the files on Agent X. If Ellie could figure out the memory problem with Chuck, maybe she could make some headway on Agent X as well, more than he had been able to in his lifetime. He knew she was capable of it. Orion copied over the files to the other computer, hoping Ellie would find this 'Easter egg' someday.

* * *

Stephen quietly made his way towards his old Mustang. So many memories came back to him as he brushed his fingers over the blue leather seats again. Making sure that no one was nearby, he carefully slid the computer underneath the driver's seat. A sudden loud noise startled him, making Stephen bash the computer slightly on the bottom of the car. Hoping that it didn't do any damage, he quickly hid the rest of it under the seat, quietly closed the door, and briskly walked away. Even if it was damaged in any way, it wouldn't be a problem for Chuck to fix. His son was almost as good as he was at computers.

Once he was a few dozen yards away, Stephen turned back around and back looked at the apartment complex that both of his children were living at. Perhaps one day soon, he'll be able to return to his family once again. And he looked forward to that day very much.

_**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! If you could leave a review before you head out that would be great. ~cowgirlangel95 out!**_


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